What Is the Utility of Posters? Qualitative Study of Participants at a Regional Primary Healthcare Conference in Asia

Medical Science Educator https://doi.org/10.1007/s40670-022-01657-z ORIGINAL RESEARCH What Is the Utility of Posters? Qualitative Study of Participants at a Regional Primary Healthcare Conference in Asia Charlene S. L. Soon1 · Lorainne Tudor Car1 · Chirk Jenn Ng2 · Ngiap Chuan Tan3,4 · Helen Smith1 Accepted: 6 October 2022 © The Author(s) under exclusive licence to International Association of Medical Science Educators 2022 Abstract Background Posters are used extensively as a mode of presentation at scientific conferences, but little is documented about their value to presenters or viewers. The study aimed to explore conference delegates’ views and experiences of poster presentations, and their perceptions of the strengths and weaknesses of posters compared with oral presentations, and also to identify ways to enhance the educational value of posters. Method This was a qualitative study using brief, semi-structured, face-to-face interviews amongst delegates at a 3-day Asia Pacific regional academic primary care conference in Singapore. Interviews were digitally recorded, transcribed verbatim, and their contents analysed thematically. Results Eighty-nine interviews were analysed. Respondents were mainly early career researchers (58%), and a third were presenting (poster or oral) at the conference. Many positive attributes of posters were identified. For the viewers, these included the ability to gain a rapid overview of research activity (for “benchmarking”, “updating”, and “inspiration”); the ability to choose who to engage with and when, in contrast to the tightly scheduled oral sessions; and opportunity to discuss content in a leisurely and detailed fashion with the presenter. Presenters considered posters “less threatening” than oral presentations and valued posters for the networking opportunities they created. However, posters were reported to be more demanding on the skills of précis and their preparation was considered arduous and more expensive than an oral presentation. Posters were also perceived to have lower academic status and dominate the presenter’s time at the conference, reducing the opportunities for them to see the work of others. Suggestions for incorporating technologies to enhance the impact of posters included QR codes to access more detailed information, pre-recorded presentations, and online interactive clarification sessions with poster authors. Conclusion Posters are perceived as a valuable mode of presentation at scientific conferences by presenters and viewers. Their unique strengths challenge the perception that posters are somehow inferior to oral presentations, suggesting a need for their advantages to be promoted by researchers and conference organisers. The incorporation of technology within the traditional display may enhance poster utility. Given the time and money spent on academic conferences there is an urgent need to evaluate the different styles of presentation used at conferences and how they differ in their ability to impact on medical science knowledge and evidence-based clinical practice. Keywords Academic conferences · Poster presentations · Oral presentations * Helen Smith 1 Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University, 11 Mandalay Road, Novena, Singapore 308232, Singapore 2 Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia 3 SingHealth Polyclinics, Singapore, Singapore 4 SingHealth-Duke NUS Family Medicine Academic Clinical Programme, Singapore, Singapore Background Conferences play a major part in the professional activities of academics, scientists, and healthcare professionals. Conferences are recognised as providing opportunities for knowledge exchange and networking, characteristics that are supported by long established educational theories such as experiential learning, legitimate peripheral participation, and communities of practice. Traditionally, presentations at conferences divide broadly into oral and posters. An oral podium presentation is often followed by a brief question-and-answer 13 Vol.:(0123456789) Medical Science Educator session. These oral presentations can be of different lengths, from just several minutes up to an hour, and they can happen concurrently or consecutively. Since the 1980s, posters have become increasingly used as a mode of presentation at scientific conferences, a trend which began with the advent of computer-based graphics. Posters are displayed on boards or stands and viewed from a distance. Posters are displayed simultaneously over the course of the conference and attendees are free to browse and study at their own convenience. The conference schedule may allocate time during which the poster presenters are available at their posters to engage in discussion. Poster displays are sometimes augmented with other activities, such as a guided tour and discussion led by an expert in the field, or a very short presentation at the poster site or in another location. Abstracts selected for presentation are usually collated as conference proceedings, but rarely found in the published literature. There is significant opinion-based literature on how to prepare an effective poster (examples include [1–3]). There is also growing literature on the characteristics of research abstracts presented at conferences and the proportion subsequently published; 551 such articles have been systematically reviewed in a recent Cochrane initiative [4]. In contrast, there is very little in the published literature about the value of posters at healthcare and medical meetings to presenters or to delegates [5, 6]. Anecdotally, dissatisfaction is frequently expressed about poster presentations, but rarely is it written about [7, 8]. As academics committed to improving the quality of Family Medicine and developing research capacity in the discipline, we wanted to better understand and cater for the needs of our conference delegates. In this study, we explored conference delegates’ views of poster presentations, and their perceptions of their strengths and weaknesses when compared with oral presentations. Method Participants were recruited at the three-day 6th Asia Pacific Primary Care Research Conference (APPCRC) in Singapore in 2017 [9]. Oral consent was obtained prior to commencing a brief, semi-structured individual interview about the strengths and weaknesses of poster presentation and ways that it could be enhanced (for interview schedule, please see Appendix). Data were also collected on participant’s role, level of research skill, and if they were presenting at the conference. The interviews were conducted by nine active researchers, with at least a research degree at master’s level, who were attending the conference as delegates and/or presenters. All had previous interviewing experience, and were individually briefed on the study background and interview schedule prior to the conference. We used convenience sampling, approaching delegates who were (...truncated)